Close call goes No. 5 Duke's way in win over top-ranked Syracuse

By AP

Published: Saturday, February 22, 2014 at 02:40 PM.

Quinn Cook iced it by hitting three free throws with 10.4 seconds left to make it 63-58.

That helped the Blue Devils bounce back from a loss to hated rival North Carolina less than 48 hours earlier. It meant they avoided their first regular-season losing streak since 2009 and it extended their winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 31 games.

Meanwhile, the Orange — whose 25-0 start was spoiled three nights earlier by an overtime loss at home to sub-.500 Boston College — are the first top-ranked team to lose twice in a week since Texas in 2010.

Star freshman Tyler Ennis finished with nine points on 2-of-13 shooting and he and fellow starting guard Trevor Cooney combined to miss all five of their 3-point attempts for the Orange.

Three times in the final 90 seconds, they had the ball down by three or fewer points — but all anyone will remember is that drive by Fair.

He blew past Tyler Thornton along the left baseline and flipped up a shot that banked in, but Greene blew his whistle and waved it off to call Fair for charging.

That brought Boeheim off the bench to argue, and when he was tossed, the game was effectively over.

Jerami Grant had 17 points and C.J. Fair, the player who was called for the charge, finished with 13 for the Orange (25-2, 12-2).

The first meeting between these teams was an overtime game considered an instant classic. The rematch was just as close but it will be remembered more for Boeheim's exit with 10 seconds to play.

Syracuse had the ball down 60-58 when Fair drove for an apparent tying layup.

But official Tony Greene whistled Fair for charging — and Boeheim shot onto the court to argue. Greene slapped him with two technical fouls and ejected him.

Quinn Cook iced it by hitting three free throws with 10.4 seconds left to make it 63-58.

That helped the Blue Devils bounce back from a loss to hated rival North Carolina less than 48 hours earlier. It meant they avoided their first regular-season losing streak since 2009 and it extended their winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 31 games.

Meanwhile, the Orange — whose 25-0 start was spoiled three nights earlier by an overtime loss at home to sub-.500 Boston College — are the first top-ranked team to lose twice in a week since Texas in 2010.

Star freshman Tyler Ennis finished with nine points on 2-of-13 shooting and he and fellow starting guard Trevor Cooney combined to miss all five of their 3-point attempts for the Orange.

Three times in the final 90 seconds, they had the ball down by three or fewer points — but all anyone will remember is that drive by Fair.

He blew past Tyler Thornton along the left baseline and flipped up a shot that banked in, but Greene blew his whistle and waved it off to call Fair for charging.

That brought Boeheim off the bench to argue, and when he was tossed, the game was effectively over.

Duke appeared to take control down the stretch, scoring on six consecutive trips — keyed by Cook's 3-pointer that pushed its lead to 53-47 with just under 7 minutes left. Three possessions later, Parker soared to dunk the rebound of Hood's missed 3 — which restored the Blue Devils’ six-point lead and sent the Cameron Crazies into earsplitting delirium.

But Ennis followed with a layup and Grant hit a jumper in transition, and things stayed tight until the technical fouls.

The game again matched the two winningest men's coaches in Division I history in Hall of Famers Mike Krzyzewski and Boeheim — who, by the end of the night, combined for 1,924 victories.

Round 1 went to Boeheim earlier this month in a game for the ages, with the Orange claiming a 91-89 victory in overtime after Duke's Rasheed Sulaimon hit a buzzer-beating, tying 3 at the end of regulation before 35,446 fans at the Carrier Dome.

There were about one-quarter of that many at 9,314-seat Cameron — but the 74-year-old building rocked all night with a ferocity usually reserved for the annual visit from North Carolina.

And from the opening tip, this one felt like a continuation of that OT thriller — with players from both sides turning in highlight-reel plays, from Marshall Plumlee's vicious dunk of a missed 3 by Sulaimon, to Ennis’ emphatic block of a layup by Cook.

Syracuse maxed out its lead at nine on a 3-pointer by Duke transfer Michael Gbinije midway through the first half. The Blue Devils rallied to tie it at 26 at the break on Sulaimon's fast-break layup with about a minute left, and it stayed tense the rest of the way.